CNN and NBC have both dropped high-profile projects about Hillary Clinton, citing controversy and opposition to the plans about the documentary and mini-series.
NBC’s biographical mini-series was to have starred Diane Lane as the former first lady and front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. The project would have covered Clinton’s life from the 1998 Lewinsky scandal to the present, including her expected presidential run.
Both projects sparked firestorms from the Republican Party, which voted in August to boycott both CNN and NBC during the 2016 primary debates. The mini-series provoked opposition from senior NBC journalists who feared it could compromise the network’s neutrality.
“After reviewing and prioritizing our slate of movie/mini-series development, we’ve decided that we will no longer continue developing the Hillary Clinton mini-series,” NBC said Monday in an e-mailed statement.
Charles Ferguson, who was to have directed CNN’s Clinton documentary, wrote in the Huffington Post that he had dropped the project dye to opposition from both Republicans and the Clinton camp.
“When I approached people for interviews, I discovered that nobody, and I mean nobody, was interested in helping me make this film,” Ferguson said. “Not Democrats, not Republicans — and certainly nobody who works with the Clintons, wants access to the Clintons or dreams of a position in a Hillary Clinton administration.”